Ex-Peru Spy Chief Trial Poses Challenges

Published 7:00 pm, Sunday, February 16, 2003

Associated Press Writer

Former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos faces his first public trial on corruption charges Tuesday in what has become one of Peru's most complicated legal cases.

Montesinos, captured nearly two years ago, still faces separate trials on other allegations. He has been accused of drug trafficking, money laundering, arms dealing, directing death squads and bribing judges, legislators, media owners and celebrities.

On Thursday, he will also face embezzlement charges for allegedly giving a mayoral candidate $25,000 in public funds for his 1998 campaign.

Once one of Peru's most feared and powerful men, many believe he still wields influence over a judicial system he controlled in the authoritarian regime of ousted President Alberto Fujimori.

"The judges are afraid of trying Montesinos," said Ronald Gamarra, a special state attorney assigned to Montesinos' corruption investigations.

Legal analysts say some judges may fear Montesinos, 57, because he might have access to incriminating videotapes of them. They say judges may also fear reprisals if Montesinos gets out of prison in a few years.

Most of the charges against Montesinos are for corruption and carry eight- to 10-year sentences. In many cases, he documented the alleged corruption in the hundreds of infamous "Vladi videos" he taped during his private dealings.

Since prison terms are served concurrently in Peru, with time off for good behavior, the former spy chief would be eligible for parole in a few years if convicted of corruption.

Prosecutors have opened some 60 investigations against Montesinos, who used his role as de facto chief of the intelligence service and as Fujimori's shadowy adviser to spin a vast web of corruption.

Fujimori's decade-long regime collapsed in 2000 amid a scandal that erupted after a cable news channel aired a videotape of Montesinos bribing a congressman-elect to join the president's legislative bloc.

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Montesinos has been a thorn in the side of Peru's judicial and penal systems since his June 2001 capture _ he has gone on a hunger strike, refused to testify as a witness in other cases and told prison psychiatrists he is suffering from depression and is mentally unfit for a trial.